So They Have Kissed
by soulsborne123
Summary: Where the team wonders if Naru and Mai really ARE dating, Yasuhara proves to be the devil, Naru takes on a bet, and the gang plays an interesting game of Truth or Dare. ONESHOT, but will be split into 2 chapters. Part of "A CHRISTMAS STORY" universe. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** _Same universe as_ _ **A Christmas Story**. Set nearly about 2 years after. Well, it can stand on its own so you don't HAVE to have read the prequel story, but it helps!_

 _GUYS. This is meant to be a one-shot, but it's getting long, so I'll release a chapter 2 soon. But I'm not expanding it any further than that! **Full Disclosure** was meant to be a one-shot as well, but for some reason people started following it... heh. I don't have anything planned for that case! I'll just be expanding Mai and Naru's story by releasing a bunch of related one shots._

 **So They Have Kissed**

Chapter 1

 **August 03. 2:00 a.m**

"How long will he be staying again?"

"Only until the end of September. Then he won't be back again until December for the short winter break, then he'll be off again for the rest of the year until his next break in July."

Ayako tentatively sipped her hot coffee and wiggled an eyebrow in response. After swallowing the liquid, she mused, "That really doesn't leave them a lot of time to spend together. Must be difficult." She leaned over the table, planting her elbow down and propping her chin up with her palm, while absentmindedly swirling a spoon in her cup with her other hand.

She continued, "To think they managed to make it work out despite starting off having only nine months of being physically together, then spending the next ten months in a long-distance relationship. And to have to do it this way for two more years."

Yasuhara re-adjusted his glasses. "Matsuzaki-san, you sound strangely melancholic about it."

The miko frowned. "How are they managing to make it last? They've been together for nearly two years. Two years! And in that manner! I mean, I know Mai is seriously in love with that guy to the point that she's loyal to him like a little puppy... Could Naru be the same? Or is it that he's just socially inept that he'd just rather stick to something familiar?"

Yasuhara poured a half teaspoon of sugar crystals into his coffee.

"Really. I would have never thought in a _million_ years that that ice cube of a brat could hold on to a lasting relationship like this."

Yasuhara then poured a bit of creamer into his coffee.

"To think that _he'd_ manage to find someone who could deal with his arrogance. Isn't that weird?"

Yasuhara took a sip of his coffee.

" _I'm_ not nearly as arrogant as that brat. How come _I_ haven't found anybody yet?"

And there it was. He was about to reply when their resident monk plopped down on the seat across from her, holding on to his own cup of freshly brewed coffee.

"There you go whining about something stupid again, Ayako," he said tiredly with a yawn. It was already two o'clock early in the morning and still nothing paranormal had occurred so far. Things were getting pretty boring. Takigawa could have attributed the mistake of taking this case to Naru's unprecedented lax with his requirements, figuring the young man must have been all too eager to get back in the field after being away in England working on his traditional PhD degree for the past several months, but he couldn't really fully blame him. After all, the case _did_ sound interesting when they spoke with the client. Perhaps it was a case with a _really, really shy_ ghost.

"You may not be 'nearly as arrogant' as Naru-chan, but you've got other problems on your plate. For one you're too bossy. You whine too much. You're loud. You're violent. And you're old. It really isn't too much of a wonder, you know. What kind of guy would like someone like that?"

Ayako glared daggers at him and gritted out, "I wasn't speaking to you, you stupid monk."

"Some people are into that type," Yasuhara said pensively with a playful smile. "In fact, some people go out of their way to tease the person they like just so they see them get flustered and act out." He saw Takigawa frown and eye him suspiciously, but instead of addressing him he deflected, "Like Shibuya-san. We all know he liked to irritate Mai because she always got so immature. You just have to find someone who treated you like that, Matsuzaki-san."

Ayako shrugged and waved him off, while it took Takigawa a few seconds to ponder if the boy was trying to have a go at him before letting it be. Several seconds later, John and Masako entered the room, each carrying a mug of their own and joining them around the table.

"It's a very slow case, isn't it? Lin-san isn't even manning the screens," John observed.

"Ah, I'm supposed to be looking at it. Boss took him and Mai to investigate the shed next door."

"Then why aren't you watching it, Yasuhara-san?" Masako asked tonelessly, covering her mouth with her kimono sleeves.

Yasuhara held his mug up. "Coffee break."

A few minutes of silence reigned as the group sipped their drinks. Suddenly, Ayako began again. "They've been together for a while, Mai and Naru, but I've never seen them _once_ act like they are."

Masako added, "Come to think of it, I haven't seen them spend time together outside of the office."

"I've seen her leave with Lin-san and Boss before."

"Dear God. Well that doesn't mean much, especially with Lin as the third wheel. Ugh. Lin and Naru are like joined at the hip, aren't they? That must make it difficult for Naru to make some moves. Poor Mai. Or maybe it's the other way around."

"Ayako, you're being creepy."

"Shut up, monk. I just can't imagine those two being together. Are they _really_ together? Can you even imagine how they'd be like on a date?"

The rest of the group contemplated the question, but all came up blank.

Bou-san pointed out, "Haven't you gone on dates with him before, Masako-chan? How did those go?"

The medium looked miffed. "You all know that didn't count. He was being forced to spend time with me. But to answer your question: quiet. He barely spoke to me and only replied to my questions only if it was about work-related things."

Everyone shivered.

"Poor Mai-san," John surprisingly lamented.

"Hey, Jou-chan is pretty spunky on her own. Like she'd accept something like that. She'd probably get exasperated with him and force him to talk about things, you know. And then he'd get provoked and end up insulting her, and she'd yell at him and call him names..." he trailed off.

 _Sounds like a grand time._ Everyone sighed collectively.

"..Do you think they've slept together yet?"

There were cries of indignation all around the table, though at varying degrees. The priest looked embarrassed, the monk pale, Masako livid, and Yasuhara hypocritical. Ayako sneered. "What? Was I the only one wondering about that?" When no one answered, she scoffed triumphantly. "I only said it out loud. How would it even begin? Who would initiate?"

"We are _not_ talking about their sex life, Ayako," Masako cried indignantly.

Ayako rolled her eyes. "Whatever. It probably doesn't exist anyway. Those two are completely naive. And frankly, weird. They probably have never even held each other's hands."

"What makes you think they don't? Have sex, I mean?" Yasuhara asked, ignoring the fact that Masako started having a coughing fit, while the poor priest willed himself to disappear into his chair. Takigawa looked slightly put-off by the question.

"Well they're practically teens, young adults, right? That means their hormones should be at full blast. For example: it's pretty common in school to walk in on some couple in the middle of a make out session, right? Or finding them in compromising positions. But we see none of that with those two. Not even innocent flirting."

Upon hearing this, Yasuhara turned to share a knowing glance with Takigawa, but the two said nothing. Unbeknownst to the other three, something of the sort happened not a few hours earlier. As bro-code, they decided to keep the details of the incident to themselves. But for Yasuhara, it made for some great blackmail material.

-00-Earlier-00-

 **August 02. 10:00 a.m**

They had just finished setting everything up for their latest case: the shelf had been built, the monitors brought in, the cameras tentatively placed at strategic locations around the house... when suddenly Mai let out a shriek. She realized in horror that she made a huge, _huge_ blunder. She accidentally left the bag containing the all the power cables to their monitors back at the office, which was now currently an hour drive away. When she eventually found the courage to tell Naru, the young man gave her an eerie blank look.

"I pose you an important question," he said quietly. "The whole team drove out for an hour, met the clients, built the shelf, carried all the equipment, set up all the cameras... and now you tell me we have no means of actually turning any of the monitors on."

"T-that wasn't in the form of a question, Naru... but yes..." she squeaked, already feeling half-dead from terror.

Naru pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sharp breath. "Since I wouldn't be able to monitor multiple rooms at a time, I expect you to patrol each room, observe it for at least ten minutes, and report any anomalies to the rest of the team. Every hour."

Mai's jaw dropped. "T-that's..."

"You'll be assigned five rooms to monitor out of the ten rooms total. Let's make it easy on you and have you be in charge of all the rooms upstairs."

"B-but that means I'll only have 10 minutes to myself per hour while we're investigating... Isn't that a bit too much? And I'll be doing it by myself?"

Naru was unmoved. "I get paid to do my job, Mai, which you somehow always manage to make more difficult to achieve than it should be. How do you expect me to work without my equipment? Those monitors are basically dead weight and useless now, not unlike someone on this team. So since you and the monitors are basically interchangeable at the moment, this arrangement will have to do."

Mai's lower lip trembled as she closed her eyes in defeat. When she opened them again, she mumbled dejectedly, "Yes, Boss... On it..." and she slumped out of the room, grabbing a nearby clipboard to jot down notes during her patrol. The rest of the team watched her pityingly.

Once she was out of earshot, Yasuhara asked, "Uhh... Doesn't Lin-san keep an emergency bag full of extra power cables in the back of the van? I'm sure those have at least six cables that can fit the monitors."

The entire group was surprised when Naru turned to them, sporting a smirk. "Let her ponder her mistake for a while. She must learn her lesson." Lin rolled his eyes and shook his head. Then, moving on to business, Naru ordered, "Matsuzaki-san, please prepare the charms for our rooms and the base as a precaution. John, Hara-san, do a walk-through of the house to get a reading. Bou-san, Yasuhara-san, I want you to walk around the property and see if there are suspicious areas nearby we can further investigate."

Yasuhara lagged behind and let the other teams filter out first, wanting to exchange a few more words with their deliciously sadistic boss. Once it was just him, Takigawa, Lin, and Naru, Yasuhara commented, "Shibuya-san, you sure love teasing Mai, don't you?"

Their almost-twenty-year-old boss didn't deign to reply.

"You know, I bet you won't be able to last 24 hours without teasing her in some form or another."

Takigawa chuckled. "It's not fun to make a bet that you know you'll win, _Shounen_."

"Well it's really a matter of self-control, Takigawa-san. See, I believe since we are talking about Big Boss here, that he might be able to control himself, but I think you might be right. It's too much of a temptation for him. What do you think, Lin-san? Do you think you'd take that bet?"

The tall Chinese man shook his head. "It is not fun to bet on something you know you'll lose against, either."

Yasuhara rubbed his chin. "Hmm... Both of your convictions are swaying my beliefs."

Naru sighed in irritation and looked scornfully at the three men before him. "I'm not impressed with your shameless attempts to provoke me."

"How about 10 hours? That's not still impossible, right?" Yasuhara continued, undeterred by his boss' pointed remarks. Both Takigawa and Lin still managed to look unconvinced.

"Fine," the young man spat coldly. "Ten hours without making a sarcastic remark toward Mai. Easy enough. If I am successful, I will dock both your pay for this month. This also means you'll get no commission on this case, Bou-san."

Lin raised his hand to stop him. "I have no wish to participate, Noll. Save your breath."

"You were so confident about your statement earlier."

"I will not be provoked."

The two British men straightened up to their tallest and faced off with a stare-down, but eventually, the younger man had to look away in irritation. Lin had never been easy to intimidate; he had been his teacher for all these years after all, teaching him how to control his emotions to put a lid on his oftentimes uncontrollable power. Obviously, Naru still couldn't hold a candle to Lin's impressive demonstration of his zen-like patience.

"Er, okay. So if Takigawa-san and I win-,"

"-Oi, oi, wait, _Shounen_. I never said I'll take the bet, either. Naru-chan has nerves of steel, you know."

"You know the urge to tease Mai will be too strong for him to resist, Takigawa-san."

Naru interjected sharply, "That remains to be seen."

Still, Takigawa insisted, "No, I think I'll pass."

Yasuhara shrugged. "Suit yourself. Well if _I_ win, then you'll owe me, Boss."

Naru narrowed his eyes. "Owe you what, exactly?"

"A favor. I don't know _what_ yet. It'll come to me. Deal? Or are you uncomfortable with agreeing to such a vague statement because you think you might slip up?"

Takigawa felt a shiver run up his spine as Yasuhara's bantering remarks were answered with the coldest, snidest, most deadliest smirk he'd ever seen on Naru's face, but strangely enough, Yasuhara appeared to be completely immune to it.

"Not at all, Yasuhara-san. I accept your terms," came Naru's deceptively polite reply.

Suddenly, a loud, thundering noise sounded and appeared to be fast approaching their base. For a moment, the men thought it was the knocking sound of a poltergeist haunting, but the door swung open violently and Mai's shrill voice tore through the air.

"NARUUU! YOU ASS! I just remembered Lin-san has that emergency bag in the van!" She stomped her way up to her boyfriend/boss and pointed at him accusingly, "You knew about that, didn't you! The moment I told you that I forgot it, you actually already knew we had the back-up, but you just wanted to make me feel bad about it. _Didn't you_?!" she pressed vehemently.

Naru held back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue, especially since he felt Yasuhara's smug look directed his way. He calmly took Mai's outstretched hand and gently set it down to her side and said neutrally, "I simply wanted to teach you an important lesson."

The girl rapidly blinked in confusion at the lack of nonchalant insults. "W-what?"

"Since you've had the chance to contemplate your mistake, grab a thermometer and we'll do a thermal sweep of the place." There was a thick silence in the room and no one moved a muscle.

He grabbed his black notebook and a pen before taking a few steps toward the door, but then turned around to address the men. "I don't pay you to slack off, Yasuhara-san. You and Bou-san best head out and do your job. Lin, make sure the monitors are already set up by the time we get back. Mai," he paused, "let's go."

Everyone was stunned speechless. Yasuhara inwardly cursed at first, but he wasn't yet defeated. It was still the beginning, after all.

-00-

 **August 02. 05:13 p.m**

"Naru, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine."

Mai continued placing paper plates and chopsticks all around their makeshift dining table so that once Yasuhara and Bou-san returned from picking up their dinner, they would be ready to eat right away. "Really? You're not acting like yourself."

Naru was currently in charge of monitoring the screens and kept his eyes glued to it like the workaholic that he was. Suddenly, he heard the microphone from Camera 4 pick up some strange screeching noise so he placed the headset on his ears and turned up the volume. It was muffled, but it sounded like a child screaming, just like what the client reported. He grabbed the handheld radio transceiver beside him. "John, Matsuzaki-san. You're the nearest ones. Head to the second room upstairs where camera 4 is located and investigate the origin of the screams that I'm currently hearing on audio."

The radio buzzed and John's static-laced voice replied, " _On our way."_

A few tense moments ticked by. Finally, it buzzed again. " _We aren't hearing the sound anymore."_

Naru clicked his tongue."Alright. Please resume your rounds. Lin, Hara-san, report your current location. I don't see you in the cameras."

" _We were investigating the shed, but Hara-san is feeling light-headed now so we are heading back_."

Naru breathed sharply and agreed before putting the radio down and pushing it away. Finally, he turned to Mai and replied, "I'm acting no different than usual."

"Earlier when I asked you what 'subjective apparition' was, you just explained it straight up."

"And that tells you there's something wrong with me?"

Mai pursed her lips. "Well, yes. Usually you'd make some sarcastic comment about my intelligence first, or something. In fact, you haven't said a single teasing word to me after I blew up on you this morning. You've been pretty tame."

He gave her a shrug but offered no other explanation.

"... Do you think I'm mad at you?" When Naru raised his brow at this, she emphasized, "No, Naru. I wasn't _that_ mad at you. I know that was my mistake to begin with. I won't yell at you again for a while, I promise. So you don't have to be so afraid of making me mad, you know. I can never stay too mad at you."

Naru only pursed his lips and secretly bit his tongue. She thought he was _afraid_ of making her mad? That was his favorite past time. His hobby. There was an art to it, and only he knew how to coax just the proper amount of anger in her without being downright abusive. He knew enough to make sure she'd never stay mad at him. When he didn't answer, Mai smiled kindly and made her way towards him.

But when she got nearer, as expected of his utterly clumsy, ditzy klutz of an assistant/girlfriend, her foot got caught on a cable cord that wasn't properly taped down and tripped ungracefully, falling face first. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, he caught her mainly with his lap, her face nearly crashing into his crotch. He sighed in relief at being spared the pain that could have caused.

He placed his hands on her shoulders as she lifted her head slightly and was surprised to find her eyes slightly misty. "Yowch, I hit my nose hard against your leg," she mumbled.

He moved his left hand to the top of her head and tilted it side to side to inspect if she had a broken nose, then, satisfied that no serious injuries were inflicted (on both of them), he smirked. "Of course, the day would never be complete without you getting injured on cases. It seems it doesn't even have to be ghost related. Deliberate self-infliction to make sure your streak isn't broken?"

Mai frowned. "What!"

"Are you going to stand up, or do you just love being in that position so much? I am afraid this is not the time nor place for such things," he teased provocatively.

"S-SHUT UP, NARU!"

Unfortunately for them Yasuhara and Takigawa were already at the hallway right by the door and heard the latest commotion. Yasuhara suddenly burst in the room, excitedly crying, "That is the unmistakable sound of Mai's righteous anger! That means Boss teased her before the 10 hours are up! I wi-oh?"

"Congratulations, _Shounen_! I didn't expect to-now wha-?"

The four of them stared at each other, frozen to their spot. Yasuhara and Takigawa's mouths hung wide open, staring in complete disbelief and shock at the scene before them. Naru was sitting with his legs slightly spread apart, with Mai on her knees and her head nestled suggestively nearby his crotch area. To top it all off, Naru's hands were placed on top of her head and shoulder.

"I've walked Hara-san to her room. Noll, the shed will need- _WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS_!?" Lin roared, joining Yasuhara and Takigawa in their utter shock at the provocative display before them.

Mai quickly stood up and brushed her skirt, flushing a deep red and sputtering an excuse at their misunderstanding. "I-we weren't-it was an accident, really. I swear. We weren't doing-that you know-"

"I expected you both to behave better than a couple of crazed, hormonal teenagers," Lin began, but Naru cut him off coldly.

"It was an accident. She tripped and fell, and unfortunately I caught her that way. Spare us."

Takigawa raised his brow. "An accident? Well Jou-chan is prone to accidents."

"Bou-san! Jeeze!"

"It seems someone forgot to tape down the cables properly." Naru's voice was dangerously low and venomous. "Through someone's carelessness, Mai and I almost got injured."

Bou-san snickered. "You mean she almost smashed your jewels?"

Naru looked at him coldly and continued, "And resulted in putting the both of us in that humiliating situation. Was that not your responsibility, Lin?"

The Chinese man looked put-off and guilty. He coughed. "I... Yes. It seems I've been careless. I should have made sure the cables were properly taped down. I apologize, Taniyama-san," he gave her a low bow.

"E-eh? No, please, not at all. I'm fine anyway," she bowed back.

Yasuhara chirped gleefully, "Well now that all the blame had been settled, I would like to point out my resounding victory to everyone present. Thank you very much for playing and thank you Lin-san and Takigawa-san for being my witnesses." He winked toward his boss. "You now owe me, Shibuya-san."

Naru glared pointedly toward Lin, his eyes cold and sharp, baring straight into the _onmyouji's_ soul. Even Lin felt a bit discomposed under this devastatingly deadly stare. Then Naru scoffed, rolled his eyes, and sighed in irritation before turning away wordlessly.

"Wait," Mai said slowly, utterly confused, "what bet?"

-00-Back to current time -00-

 **August 3. 02:10 a.m**

"I think it isn't fair to assume the two of them are completely innocent when it comes to sex, Matsuzaki-san," Yasuhara admonished. "Have faith in our school system. Mai would at least be aware of how it works, and Boss is a smart fellow."

"We. Are. Not. Talking. About. Their. Sex. Life. Yasuhara-san," Masako gritted out.

"And I thought it was impossible for the lot of you to be any more shameless. _Inappropriate_ conversations during the work hours is strictly prohibited. I should have thought that went without saying."

"Shibuya-san!"

"Naru!"

"Naru-chan!"

"Sweet Christ, that scared me." Ayako placed her mug down angrily.

Most of the irregulars, at least, had the decency to look somewhat guilty. However Ayako was staunchly unapologetic, while Yasuhara looked chipper as usual.

"Welcome back, Boss. How went the investigation?"

Naru walked toward the monitors and started shutting them off, Lin and Mai soon entering the room after him. He announced confidently, "The case has been solved. Begin packing up and we will report our findings to the client at the earliest convenience."

Bou-san stood up. "How? What did you find out?"

"The electrical sockets are connected in a ring circuit. If the shed nearby is wired that way, most likely the house is built the same. This kind of wiring generates strong EMF, and long exposure to these electromagnetic waves often affect people's senses, which likely caused these people to experience these subjective apparitions. It explains why different people report different ghosts showing up around the shed and some parts of the house."

"What about the sound of screaming children?" John asked. "You heard them earlier."

"When we stepped outside, we saw an owl fly out the attic window. Lin went to check it out and saw that it had nested its chicks there. Owlets shriek in a high pitch when they are hungry." The team looked both disappointed and impressed at this conclusion.

"Everyone, begin packing the equipment."

"Boss, it's not even 3 a.m yet. There's no point in packing now," Yasuhara observed. "If we pack now, we'll have to wait for the client anyway, and they won't be showing up here until 8 a.m. And maybe there might still be a ghost. We should leave the cameras running until the morning."

Naru sighed. "I am confident of my conclusions, Yasuhara-san. But I can't fault your reasoning. Very well. Everyone is dismissed until morning."

"We're hopped up on coffee, Boss."

Naru gave him a look that unmistakably said, ' _I couldn't care less'_ , before turning around to turn the monitors back on and sitting down on the seat. Knowing that watching the monitors would only waste his precious time, Naru decided to pull out his notebook and begin reading his previous case notes to prepare for his reports.

"Well what should we do to pass time?" Bou-san asked.

"How about we play a round of Truth or Dare?" Ayako suggested.

"Aren't you a little too old to be playing those kinds of games, Ayako?"

 _Thwak_. "Woman! Have pity on my shoulder."

Yasuhara laughed. "I think that's a good way to pass time. We'll use this pen as our bottle. Will everyone be playing?" he asked the group. Everyone (except Naru and Lin, of course) nodded, even John. Perhaps, Yasuhara thought, the priest wasn't fully aware of what the game could truly be like. He looked to the two morose-looking people. "Boss, you playing?"

Naru ignored him and simply flipped the page on his notebook. Mai shrugged and asked rhetorically, "Really, you expect him to play?"

Yasuhara snapped his fingers. "Remember that favor you owe me? I think I'd like to make use of it now. Come, Boss. Play!"

Takigawa chuckled. "You sure you want to waste your favor on something like this?"

"Eh, it's the perfect time to call in that favor." When Naru didn't budge, Yasuhara readjusted his glasses. "Now, now, Shibuya-san. I had thought you'd be a man of your words. We did make that bet after all. And I won." Naru stared at him and he stared back unflinchingly. Finally, he grinned and said simply, "Deal's a deal, Boss."

The raven-haired boy sighed in defeat. He had no choice. While still holding on to his notes, he stood up and approached group, but before sitting down he glanced at the Chinese man and said, "Lin, it seems I've been coerced to join a game." His tone was full of unconcealed disgust. "Wouldn't you like to join in?"

Lin, knowing that Naru held him responsible for his current situation (and because he really was a decent human being), felt guilty and had no choice but to agree with the farce, despite not wanting to.

Naru settled himself in his seat, with Mai and Lin flanking him on either side. He opened up his notebook again and continued reading where he left off.

"Alright," Takigawa said, rubbing his hands eagerly. "Let's play! I'll spin first."

 **A/N:** _Strange cliffhanger... Up next: John is mortified!_

 _Confused about Naru's status? Naru finally decided to go back to England to finish up his PhD degree. So in September, right before turning 19 and before their 1st year anniversary (which is Christmas!), Naru left for school. He came back shortly during Christmas break, then went back to UK again. So he had just finished his first term and is currently on his 1st summer break. He and Mai are almost 2 years together. In his absence Madoka takes over the office, and whenever he comes back, they switch. Madoka goes back to England for her break. Lin always comes back with Naru and the duo participates in field work until it's time to leave again._

 _I would be greatly honored if you people left me some reviews! Thank you for reading!_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N** : _The dares were specifically chosen to attack everyone's ego. They might seem tame to us "regular" people, but I want you to really imagine these fools taking on these silly dares. Take that, SPR. Enjoy!_

* * *

 **So They Have Kissed**

Chapter 2

 **August 03. 2:45 a.m**

Ayako and Mai cleared the table so Takigawa could spin the pen unhindered. Eventually it slowed down and pointed toward the spirit medium, who looked on with a slightly bored look. "Masako-chan! Let's see... Truth or dare?"

Masako contemplated for a second before deciding on 'truth'.

"Truth? Okay, uhh..." the monk rubbed the back of his head. "Well I thought it was interesting how outraged you were earlier when we were all talking about... you know..." he cast an uncomfortable glance toward the couple (Mai looked entirely oblivious, while Naru was pointedly ignoring him). "Err, _inappropriate_ topics. So I was wondering if-"

"Dare. Dare." Masako quickly interrupted, face blanched. "I changed my mind."

The people who actually cared about the game rolled their eyes, but only Ayako was vocal about it and muttered angrily about Masako being 'such a cheat'.

Since it was Takigawa's prerogative, he merely shrugged and decided to let it slide, magnanimously saying, "Since you're first, I'll let it pass. Dare it is, then. Masako-chan, I dare you to stand up and act like a chicken. With the arm movement and the head bobbing and the clucking sound."

Masako paled even more. Meanwhile, Ayako and Mai started giggling to themselves, and Yasuhara interlaced his fingers together and looked on with deep interest. John gave her a look of kind sympathy, but he was also smiling nonetheless. "On second thought-"

"Aw come on, Masako-chan. I gave you a chance already. Play properly!" Takigawa whined, while secretly fighting to keep a straight face.

With everyone waiting for her expectantly, Masako shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, determined to finish the farce as quickly as possible, she stood up, bent her arms, and rotated her elbow out 90 degrees from her body. She shut her eyes tighter and with a tiny, trembling voice, choked out a mortified, " _K-koke-kokko, koke-kok-kkoko_... **[1]** " while desperately flapping her bent arms up and down and bobbing her head front and back. She turned beet red and quickly sunk down into her chair without looking anybody in the eye. There was a deafening silence across the table before everyone simultaneously erupted in fits of laughter.

Mai covered her face, feeling embarrassed for the medium's sake, but she also couldn't stop laughing and thinking how _adorable_ she'd been. The monk tried to stifle his giggles but it just made him end up snorting.

Masako crossed her arms, breathing hard and doing her best to ignore their laughter until it eventually died down. She looked back and slyly gave Naru a quick glance, checking to see if he at least felt a little sorry for her sake, but to her mortification found that he wasn't even paying any attention. He was still buried in his notes and was doing his best to ignore their antics. Mai saw it all and was torn between feeling annoyed that the medium still had an obvious crush on Naru, and feeling bad that her boyfriend was being a cold-hearted bastard toward their friend. She offered Masako a reassuring smile.

"I will now spin," Masako said stiffly, and did so. The pen pointed toward the miko and Masako smirked, suddenly overjoyed at her luck. "Ayako, what will it be?"

She declared confidently, "Dare."

"I see. Then I dare you to get on all fours and do your best imitation of a lazily feeding cow."

Takigawa slapped his thighs and guffawed. "Hah! I _get_ it!"

"Why are we having an animal theme?" Yasuhara wondered out loud, though it was obvious that he too, found it amusing. Lin and John only shook their heads and sighed.

"What! How _dare_ you, you little-"

Masako covered her mouth with a kimono, trying in vain to disguise her obvious sneer. "Don't be a prude and play the game, Ayako," she taunted.

The priestess' right eye twitched in aggravation. She looked imperiously at the crowd before her and scoffed, then pursed her lips and stood up only with the slightest hesitation. She took a couple of steps back to give herself enough room and dropped down to her knees and hands, then took a deep breath. Then she dipped her head down and pretended to take a mouthful of grass, made a show of chewing it loudly and lazily, gulped it down, and then uttered a low, _"Mooooooo._.."

There was a thunderous roar of laughter all around the room.

"Oh. My. God! That was brilliant!" Yasuhara clapped enthusiastically. "Such a marvelous performance! Excellently done! Bravo!"

Takigawa and Masako shared a high five amidst their mirthful laughter, and Mai had to wipe tears out of her eyes. Even John and Lin had to swallow down a chuckle or two. But surprisingly, in the midst of all this, Naru still seemed entirely oblivious to the world and flipped yet another page of his notes.

Ayako stood up in a huff and straightened her clothes. "Alright. It's my turn to spin. I hope you guys are ready." She flicked it violently. "Well, well. John!" she cried maliciously.

The poor priest blinked and started fidgeting in his seat. "... I think... I will choose truth," he answered hesitantly, afraid that he might end up being asked to imitate a beached whale struggling to get back into the ocean. There was no way he could pull that off.

"Good." She sat down and said in a business-like manner, "You being shy about that conversation earlier was expected for a devout priest, but I was curious nonetheless. You seemed just a bit too fidgety, more than you should have, like you were somewhat guilty. Tell the truth - have you recently imagined yourself being with a woman in _that_ manner? Say... within the last year?"

Mai believed that if an ant had farted in that instance, that she would have been able to hear it. Even Naru paused in his reading and glanced toward the priest from the corner of his eye.

John reddened as he processed the question. Then, stuck between having to lie (and sin) or excusing himself from play (and gaining Ayako's wrath), he miserably buried his face in his hands. " **Oh Jesus, Lord, Christ, God almighty, forgive me for I have sinned** ," he moaned into the palm of his hands in English, and the corner of Naru's lips twitched upward in the slightest bit. No one had seen, since everyone's attention was currently riveted on the poor, bullied priest. John looked up and whispered, "... Y-yes. Oh _Lord, Christ_ , forgive me." His crossed himself and his eyes widened as he muttered fearfully, "I will have to go into confession and beg for absolution immediately."

Takigawa couldn't believe his ears and said in awe, "No way..."

"The human drive to procreate is a powerful thing," Yasuhara sagely commented.

But Ayako's curiosity knew no bounds. "Since you most likely haven't had much prolonged contact with any other women this year, it must mean whoever you've been thinking of is someone in this team. So who is it? Madoka, Masako, me, or Mai?"

John looked like he wanted to cry in shame, so Mai stood up and defended, "Ayako! One question only!"

The miko shrugged nonchalantly. "Whatever, someone can pick up where I left off."

Mai received a grateful look from the priest and she smiled back. "Go ahead, John. It's your turn to spin!"

The priest took a deep breath and tried to recollect himself. He gave the pen a gentle spin. "L-Lin-san," he announced once it landed on the next victim. The Chinese man made no verbal response, but gave him his careful attention. "Lin-san, which one will it be?"

"I shall go with-" he was about to say 'truth', but beside him, Naru had made a show of shutting his notebook noisily. The young man raised his eyes and they locked against his, and though neither one said a thing, the two was actually engaged in a fierce, wordless exchange that went like:

 _"Take the dare."_

 _"You cannot make me."_

 _"I am in this mess because of your carelessness and you owe it to me. Take the dare."_

 _"I will not. I am already taking responsibility by playing."_

 _"Take the dare. Or I'll find other ways to make you suffer."_

 _"That does not scare me."_

"Madoka," Naru suddenly said out loud. To the others it seemed like a random outburst, but to Lin, it was a warning.

"I shall go with dare, Brown-san," he answered smartly. Naru was immediately pacified and returned to reading his notes again.

"Lin-san... I dare you... to..." John really couldn't think of anything worthwhile. The only experience he's had with the game so far was with the orphaned kids, which was why he didn't have much reservation when the game was first suggested, though he knew now how awful this game could be. Going with the current trend involving farm animals, all he could think about was to say, "I dare you to sing **Old McDonald Had a Farm**. Just... the cat verse would be enough."

Everyone blinked. It seemed like a tame dare, but it was directed toward Lin after all. The man could go weeks without saying a word to anybody, and now he was being asked to sing and mewl like a kitten? No one moved.

Lin seemed to be having an internal battle, but eventually he cleared his throat and sang the "cat" verse of the song in a deep baritone, complete with the parts that went, " **Meow meow here, meow meow there. Here a meow, there a meow, everywhere a meow meow**." When the formidable _onmyouji_ finished the ridiculous verse, even the sound of a nonexistent heartbeat of a long decayed cadaver could have been considered louder than the absolute stillness that blanketed the room. A few tense seconds passed by.

The silence was broken by a rustling sound as Naru opened his notebook, lifted it, and rested its open pages against his mouth. He looked away to the side. Then to everyone's surprise, they saw his eyes soften and crinkle just the slightest bit and heard a soft rush of air come out from his nose. All of this was over in the span of a few seconds.

"D-did the Big Boss just... laugh?" Yasuhara blurted out in shock, asking no one in particular.

Before anyone could answer, Naru's composure returned and he threw them all a cold glare and commented flippantly, "Excellent rendition, Lin."

Immediately everyone's attention went back toward the Chinese man and started praising him, telling him how surprising it was for him to be able to carry a tune. Lin coughed and said pointedly, eager to extract himself from his embarrassment, "I'd like to have a turn at spinning now." He flicked the pen and it spun in place before landing on Yasuhara.

The boy smiled and asked in fake naivete, "I wonder what kind of depraved questions or dares you got for me, Lin-san?"

"Truth or dare?" the man replied calmly, clearly not taking the bait.

"Truth, please."

Lin folded his arms on his chest and simply stated, "Case 22."

Yasuhara audibly gulped. "Oh, uhh, if memory serves me correctly... that's the case where the evidence tape got written over, right? Somehow."

"Indeed. 'Somehow'."

"That happened sometime last year. What about it?" Yasuhara saw Mai look at him with wide, terrified eyes.

"The cover-ups have gone on far too long. I'd like for you to tell me the truth regarding how our evidence got lost. That tape had promising data I could have supplied to Professor Martin Davis to use for our paper."

"Ahh..."

Ayako spoke up. "Well wasn't it Mai?"

"B-but I told you guys, I don't remember messing it up!" Mai defended herself. "But... m-maybe? I really don't, promise!" she faltered even more when Naru merely raised his brow at her. "Ack... well I am telling the truth about not remembering it..."

"Jou-chan, you can get so air-headed sometimes that it's not surprising."

John nodded. "It's okay, Mai-san."

While everyone else was consoling Mai, Lin was tapping his foot and waiting for his answer.

Finally, Yasuhara caved in.

"I... might have been the one who accidentally destroyed those files..." The rest of the team snapped their heads toward him and glared. He held his hand up and laughed it off sheepishly, but internally hung his head. He never planned on ever admitting to making such an amateur mistake, not when everyone had believed it to be Mai's fault all along and had been strangely understanding. There would have been no harm done, right?

" _You!_ Yasuhara-kun! That's _evil!_ Everyone had been blaming me all along and you said _nothing_?! You traitor!" Mai screamed and slammed her hands hard on the table. "God!"

The rest of the team shook their heads disapprovingly.

" _Shounen_ , that's low."

"We can never trust Yasuhara-san again," Masako stated.

"To think he'd throw Mai under the bus to take the blame for him. Shame," Ayako added.

"Honesty and integrity goes a long way, Yasuhara-san," John offered humbly.

"Detestable," Naru spat.

Lin gave him a frigid glare. "I had my suspicions long ago, but I had no evidence. I will not forget this."

Yasuhara paled at his teammates' words. "Hey, I panicked, alright! It's not a feeling I'm used to, as you can imagine. Forgive me, Lin-san. And I'm _so_ sorry, Mai! I'll make it up to you. I'll take you out for ice cream? Movie? Dinner?"

Naru's eerily calm look silenced him.

"Ooor I can just take over your work for a week. I'll do all the paperwork and you relax, how about it?"

Mai clasped her hands. "And you'll be making me tea and running me errands!"

"Sure!"

"And you won't be teasing me at all!"

"Promise!"

"I have an essay due as well, and I need to gather some sources so you'll brainstorm with me. And I need to review for my midterms."

"... Yes."

"Deal!"

The two shook on it and tried to put it behind them. Yasuhara took a deep breath and exclaimed, "Okay! With that out of the way... I'll be spinning." He reached for the pen and twirled it, eventually slowing down to point at the space between Naru and Lin.

Bou-san asked, "Who'll take it?"

Lin answered logically, "I have just had my turn. It would be much more to the group's entertainment if Noll were to take it."

Yasuhara rubbed his chin and nodded. "Excellent reasoning, Lin-san. I was contemplating whether I should have my revenge on you, but I think it's only fitting for me to have the honor of facing against Shibuya-san."

Naru resisted the urge to roll his eyes and set his notebook down. "Let's not waste time. Truth."

Beside him, Mai sighed. Honestly with the way the game was going, it seemed obvious to her that the 'truth' option to the game was much more devastating than the silly, childish dares that everyone's been hashing out. Singing and having to act out like animals definitely paled in comparison to being forced to answer the very pointed, very embarrassing questions cropping up. But Naru was an egoist after all, so there was no way he'd subject himself to the humiliation of being dared to neigh like a horse (Mai figured Yasuhara might have thought of something like that...)

Yasuhara thought for a moment, deliberately ignoring Ayako who was currently giving him meaningful looks and kept alternating between wriggling her eyebrow and widening her eyes while silently mouthing, ' _Ask them about the sex_ '. "Shibuya-san. I am very curious to know what type and color of underwear you are currently wearing to protect the family heirloom?"

Everyone almost fell over in shock.

"Well, " Ayako said hesitantly, "Not the question I wanted him to ask... but I can't say I'm not curious."

"You _would_ be, you dirty old lady. Ouch! My foot..." Bou-san cried.

"Boxers, plaid. Black, grey, and white," Naru answered simply without any hint of embarrassment.

Mai looked at him in shock. He was actually telling the truth! She groaned when the rest of the team turned their heads toward her questioningly. "W-what?"

Ayako pressed, "So is it true, Mai?"

"Huh?! Like I would know if he was telling the truth! I'm just as shocked as you all are!" she lied convincingly.

"Really? So you and him aren't intimate? Who am I kidding. You probably haven't even kissed yet, right?

"A-Ayako! Stop it!"

Bou-san lightly joined in, "Now, now, it's nothing to be ashamed of, Jou-chan. When two people love each other they do special things to show it. Come on, even _John_ knows about it."

John started stammering out in embarrassment.

"Takigawa-san," Masako insisted, "I implore you to stop talking about that nonsense. There's just simply _no way_ Mai has the charm and sensuality that it would take to get herself into Naru's bed."

"-HEY, MASAKO! You're insulting me, but how am I supposed to defend myself against that?"

Yasuhara laughed. "I just _love_ the mystery of it. Isn't it better, speculating like this?"

Naru ignored the prattle going on around him and simply leaned forward to reach for the pen. Just as Bou-san was chortling about how Yasuhara had managed to trick Naru into answering two questions, Naru said pointedly, "Matsuzaki-san. Which option do you prefer?"

The group turned their heads and looked at the pen that was currently pointing toward the miko for the second time. The woman scoffed and gave a shrug, then answered smugly, "You won't get to humiliate me, boy. I choose 'truth'."

Naru smirked. "I want to know if you aware that you enjoy the fact of knowing that Bou-san is pathetically trying his best to woo your affections by constantly teasing you about your obvious lack of social graces and for being utterly obnoxious about your old age."

Everyone did a double-take as they tried to process the question. Was it even a question? Is this how a psychic, genius professor plays a simple game of Truth or Dare? With his work done, Naru directed his attention back to his notebook and resumed his studies, not feeling particularly interested in hearing her answer.

Yasuhara was the first to unravel the deliberately obfuscated statement. He leaned back on his chair and pursed his lips in admiration, crying, "Very well done."

"Wait, what?" The red-head's mind started reeling as she tried to decode the sentence. How the hell was she supposed to answer that? She took a deep breath. _'Alright,'_ she thought, ' _it's like a mathematical equation where the ideas are buried inside the parenthesis and you'd have to apply the over-arching concept. So what was outside this parenthesis? It was the question: 'was she aware.' So. Moving to decode it from the inside out, she must begin with the end of the sentence. It was a veiled insult from Naru himself, telling her she lacked social graces and called her out for being too sensitive about her age._

She bit her lip angrily.

' _Then he went to say that the monk is also aware of this and so he's always teasing her about it. Right. That moron. Next is Naru's jab at the monk for being pathetic, saying that he is desperately trying his best to woo her affections by constantly teasing her.'_ Ayako pondered this information. That sounded like something Yasuhara had mentioned in passing before. Apparently she should look for her own version of a Mai-Naru, cat-and-mouse relationship, and here Naru was suggesting that the answer was in the form of that stupid monk. She felt the back of her neck heat up.

So did she enjoy knowing that? Ayako could no longer form a coherent thought in her head, but did recognize the annoying butterflies dancing in her stomach and knew it meant the affirmative. Was she aware that she enjoyed it? Well, not when the question was initially posed, but after decoding it she _bloody_ did now!

"I... I..." she let out a groan in exasperation. "I suppose!"

Takigawa looked horrified at the turn of events and was unsure what he should do. She was aware of him being pathetic in his attempts and she enjoyed it, but what did that mean for him? He rubbed the back of his neck.

Mai clasped her hands happily and cried, "That's great, Ayako! So Bou-san has a chance then?"

"I believe you've recently broken up with your other boyfriend so there's nothing stopping the two of you," Yasuhara pointed out.

Masako said languidly, "I'd consider offering you some consoling words over the loss of your recent boyfriend, but I know you go through them like tissue. I hope this one manages to last longer."

Ayako barked at her. "Shut up, Masako!"

"Takigawa-san, you're looking paler. Are you feeling alright? Aren't you happy?" No one knew whether John meant for this to be a straightforward kind of observation or if the priest's sadistic streak was beginning to peek through.

"Ah... hah. I don't know," the monk answered dumbly. "I'm afraid to say one thing or another because Ayako will just reply violently." He received a kick in the shin. " _OW_! Case in point! I don't even know _why_ I like you; you are a crazy, old hag!"

The rest of the group let out a collective _'awwww'_ , which only made the miko angrier. "I swear the next person I get will suffer for this!" She grabbed the pen and practically threw it on the table. It was a miracle that it actually spun around. "HAH!"

Mai gulped and felt her stomach figuratively drop to the floor as she looked on helplessly at the pen that was pointing right at her. However, when she looked up she was surprised and confused to find the priestess sneering at Naru. "Uhh, Ayako. Not that I'm jumping to bits about it, but the pen is clearly pointed towards me."

Ayako waved her off. "Same thing. Mai," the red-head declared, "I-"

"-Wait! You have to ask truth or dare first," Yasuhara interjected.

"What? Oh, yes. Okay, it doesn't matter. Mai, truth or dare?"

Still holding fast to her previous intuition, Mai decided she would go for the dare. _'What would it be this time? Wail like a dying pig? Dance like a zombie on top of the table? Scratch my armpit like a monkey? Bring it on!'_

"Good. I dare you to make out with Naru in front of us."

Mai turned green at this unexpected difficulty. For one, it was deathly embarrassing. Two, if she did follow through, dying from embarrassment would be the least of her worries because Naru would kill her himself. He would never agree and tolerate participating in public displays of affection. "Th-that's impossible to do, Ayako!"

Bou-san grimaced. "Is that really something you'd like to witness, Ayako? Jou-chan and Naru-chan snogging?"

"It would be a bit uncomfortable to sit and watch," Yasuhara relented.

"That's a ridiculous dare!" Masako cried.

"It would be sinful of me to observe..."

But Ayako was not to be deterred. "So all of you are saying you're not even remotely curious to see how well these two would perform the simple act of kissing? You're not even curious to find out whether it's Mai or Naru who closes their eyes first, or who controls who? Or in finding out if they're even _capable_ of kissing?"

The team pondered it together for a second, and then said nothing in response. Truth be told, they were all a little curious.

Having gained victory once again, Ayako humphed. "So. Do the dare."

Mai tried to open her mouth to argue, but Naru cut her off with a loud sigh. "If only you idiots used what little brain power you have in questioning scientifically relevant things, rather than inanely speculating about our relationship, the world would be a much more tolerable place." He shifted his weight and leaned over toward Mai.

"U-uhh, the dare was mine to accept, Naru."

The boy paid her no heed. He cupped her chin and very, very slowly inched his head closer to hers, teasing the rest of the team who were now watching the event unfold at the edge of their seats. When he was merely centimeters away from her lips, already nose to nose, Naru lifted his trusty notebook once again and obscured their audience's view, garnering loud protestations from the rest.

Naru smirked at Mai, but did not actually plant the kiss. He listened smugly to Ayako crying out in the background about being a total cheat.

Mai smirked back at him, her eyes twinkling, and feeling uncharacteristically mischievous, closed the distance between them and kissed him square in the lips. _'If you were willing to go so far to tease everyone, then you might as well do it right,'_ she thought.

She moved her head back slightly, just enough so she could watch his emotions flicker across his face (something he'd only allow her to see), and giggled as he licked his lips and scowled at her. Naru wasn't going to trick her this time. She could tell it was merely posturing on his part, his way of showing a tantrum, and his body language otherwise said that he wasn't particularly displeased at her boldness. She smiled and winked at him.

Slowly the two pulled away and Naru dropped the notebook, closing it and placing it on his lap. Then, meeting the shocked faces of his team, he challenged smugly, "Satisfied?"

"I said you had kiss in front of us!"

"You really must be getting on in age to forget that we had just done that."

"I mean without hiding behind the notebook!"

"That was not part of your stipulation."

Although everyone was mildly disappointed that Naru found a loophole with the technicalities, they eventually agreed to let the matter rest. Everyone seemed to be fully satisfied at the conclusion this afforded, with the exception of Masako, who was currently waging an internal battle with herself. On one hand she was extremely happy and relieved to find that the two people she now considered as her friends were actually able to act like a normal couple; on the other hand she was madly jealous that Mai actually found herself a boyfriend (for some reason she never really considered the fact seriously before) and that it had to be Naru, of all people.

As the group's conversation devolved into mindless prattle and empty arguments, Yasuhara laughed and said to the silent man beside him, "Well this case had been a blast, huh, Lin-san?"

When the Chinese man gave him no verbal reply, Yasuhara turned his head to see if he was being deliberately ignored, but to his surprise, found his friend smiling in amusement. "It is nice to embrace being silly, once in a while," Lin admitted.

* * *

 **[1]** _Koke-kokko is apparently the sound that chickens make, according to the Japanese. Is it me or is that weird?_

 **A/N** : _Hooo! Well THAT was a fun thing to write! I hope you all enjoyed reading it, too!_

 _I wanted to keep them all in character, even as they dealt with their horribly embarrassing situations. I also wanted to make sure that the questions and dares they think up are also within their character's principles. The reason I'm okay with Ayako being that pushy about Naru and Mai is because I feel she's probably aggravated at her own relationship's lack of progress, so she takes it out on them. Also since Mai and Naru are already in a relationship, talking about sex and making them kiss each other for a dare isn't too scandalous._

 _Thank you all, as always! Please review! Even if you just wanted to say, "OOOO!" or "AHAHAH FUNNY." I like reading your reactions!_


End file.
